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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Highlands, NCC basketball teams meet in 36th Semifinals

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This marks
the last year of the blind draw in the 36th District basketball tournament at
least until the schools vote on it next year.

That’s
unless the Kentucky High School Athletic Association steps forward to put an
end to that. For those wondering, the baseball and softball teams will be
seeded in the spring like the volleyball teams were in the fall.

Like I said
a few weeks ago, it is too bad because one of the top five teams in the 9th
Region will not be playing in it next week on the girls side. Then on the boys
side, the best team faces arguably the third-best team in the district instead
of second and third like it would be if the teams were seeded.

Girls:

This means
that there will be a lot of excitement in the semifinal game Tuesday between
Highlands (22-7) and Newport Central Catholic (20-9) as neither team wants its
season to end.

The
Bluebirds may have the edge because they have the size to disrupt the
Thoroughbreds. Highlands used that size to get back into the game on Jan. 4
before NewCath won 56-54. The Bluebirds pressured the Thoroughbreds and caused
turnovers to tie the game at 53 with 49.3 seconds left and erase a 51-40
deficit with 4:06 remaining.

The
Bluebirds have won six in a row and 16-of-19 since starting the year 6-4 facing
some tough competition. They knocked off 8th Region contenders Walton-Verona
and Simon Kenton (24-5) to conclude the season.

But the
Bluebirds have more than just them. Freshman guard Brianna Adler has emerged to
score an average of 8.9 points per game. Alex Combs, Haley Coffey, Emilie
Parton, Vanessa Fisse and McKenzie Leigh have had big scoring games this
season. Balanced scoring will again be key if Highlands wants to make the
region tournament.

Senior
guard Ava Abner has managed to stay healthy this season. Her leadership has
been a big key. Abner also seems to have found her confidence shooting the
ball. She made a critical three-pointer against Walton-Verona. That could take
pressure off Schaefer and Daley because teams can’t help off her.

The key for
Highlands is to avoid the four-minute lapses in games. That let Simon Kenton
come back in the fourth quarter Thursday and could cost the Bluebirds in the
tournament.

On the
other side, things looked bleak for NewCath (20-9) a week ago. The
Thoroughbreds lost five in a row starting with a runner-up finish to Owensboro
Catholic in the All “A” Championship game before beating Ryle and Conner to
conclude the regular season.

Junior
Nikki Kiernan has been as good as advertised averaging 18.1 points and 10.7
rebounds a game. Teammate Alexus Mayes averages 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.

The key for
the Thoroughbreds is also balance. They can advance in the postseason if they
have balance. Stephanie Lewis, Michaela Ware and Ansley Davenport among others
have made big shots for NewCath during the season.

NewCath
likes to slow things down and pound the ball into Kiernan and Mayes. The Thoroughbreds
get in trouble when they don’t make outside shots because it allows defenses to
collapse on Kiernan and Mayes. If the Thoroughbreds receive balanced scoring,
they could win their ninth straight over the big rivals and play for a fifth
consecutive district title.

The
Thoroughbreds have won three region crowns since 2003. On the other side,
Highlands is searching for its first region crown since 2001. Game time is 6
p.m. Tuesday.

On the
other side of the bracket, Dayton takes on Bellevue on Monday and the winner
meets Newport in the semifinals Wednesday. The championship game is Friday at 7
p.m.

Boys:

The
Thoroughbreds (28-2) had the best regular season in school history and finished
with the most wins in the state. They enter the postseason on a 16-game winning
streak.

That
included the second All “A” championship in school history. Their only two
losses came in January to defending state champion Louisville Trinity and
Covington Catholic.

NewCath
dominated Highlands, 59-22 on Jan. 22 in Fort Thomas. The Thoroughbreds have
won six straight in the series and four consecutive district titles.

NewCath’s
five starters average at least 7.3 points a contest. That lineup has three
players at 6-5 or taller in Drew McDonald, Jake Schulte and Nick Seibert making
it difficult for teams to match up with them and Highlands is no different. When
teams collapse on them, Michael Bueter and Zach Pangallo make critical
three-pointers.

The
Thoroughbred bench has also been key. Ben Weyer, Brennan DeVoto and Colin
Dupont have had big moments this season for NewCath.

Expect the
Bluebirds to spread things out and try to attack off the dribble with Drew
Houliston and Luke Turner because that has where NewCath has struggled some
this season. Houliston averages 12.5 points per game and Turner averages 10.
Turner scored a combined 45 in recent Highlands wins over Scott and Beechwood.

For
Highlands to pull the upset, they’ll need big nights from Houliston, Turner and
probably two other players. Likely candidates for that are Nick True, Jake
Gronotte, Parker Harris or even seniors Bailey Witte and Karl Hinkel. That
could be a tall order for a team that has struggled to shoot the ball this
season.

The teams
face off Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. The winner will most likely meet Newport (19-8)
for the district title on Thursday at 7 p.m.

The
Thoroughbreds won both meetings against the Wildcats and the Wildcats beat the
Bluebirds in the regular season matchup. Brothers JaSean and JaQuan Short lead
Newport with 16.5 and 11.8 points per game respectively.